Why Do Black Writers Matter?

“They didn’t know the people and I think they were just sort of talking about it like it was a jungle; these were just sort of hooligans running around with no hearts and no souls.”- Lena Waithe

With the first week and probably the coldest on East Coast of 2018 thus far coming to a close, we all need a new series to watch. With a Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder crossover in the works (leave it to Shonda Rhimes to have us go crazy), the spin-off series Grown-ish starring the amazing Yara Shahidi, and now everyone cannot wait for the latest series ‘The Chi‘ airing on Showtime written by Lena Waithe.

In 2017 Lena Waithe won an Emmy for her for co-writing the Netflix comedy Master of None with star Aziz Ansari, that was based on her own experience coming out to her mother. This year Lena brings a new series called ‘The Chi’ even though the upcoming drama is fiction based it does include a truth component. According to Complex.comWaithe was displeased with the report coverage of her hometown Chicago during interviews on new broadcast stations between 2014-2015 where she felt the stories were bias and disconnected. So Lena decided to create a compelling drama to showcase the stories that were not being told by major broadcast stations. Ultimately, Waithe wanted to display that the individuals who were being reported had heart, soul, and ambition. Lena sits down with Complex to discuss her writing process, and why it is important to have unique and divisive voices in television.